From layoffs gone bad to customers gone mad, these companies outshone the competition.

While attempting to stave off a legal challenge to its patent on the blood thinner Plavix, Bristol-Myers Squibb manages to sign off on fine print that gives Canadian generic drugmaker Apotex five days to flood the market with an off-brand version.

By the time Bristol can get an injunction to turn off that spigot, Apotex has filled pharmacy warehouses with its lower-priced meds, costing Bristol more than $525 million in profit and CEO Peter Dolan his job.